CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Some Chicago Public School students could return to in-person learning by Thursday if Chicago Teachers Union delegates approve a tentative deal with CPS.
Under the city’s latest proposal, no teacher or staff member would be required to return to work before being offered a vaccine, and the reopening of schools would be pushed back to March for elementary and middle school students.
The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates will decide Monday whether to accept or reject the tentative agreement reached over the weekend with the Chicago Public Schools.
If approved, preschool and special education cluster students, whose parents had selected in-person learning, will return to classrooms Thursday.
Kindergarten through 5th grade teachers and staff would return Feb. 22, followed by their students March 1; 6th to 8th grade staff would go back March 1, and their students return March 8. High school students are also not currently scheduled to return in person.
"I want to personally thank [CTU] President [Jesse] Sharkey for a series of very candid and productive discussions that, no doubt, helped explain and narrow the issues on both sides," Mayor Lightfoot said.
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Under the tentative deal, 2,000 COVID vaccines will be available for preschool and special education cluster staff this week. Half would be offered to each group. In the weeks ahead, hundreds of CPS employees will start being vaccinated with priority given to those going back to work in school buildings sooner, as well as those who are at higher risk due to age or demographics.
On the flip-side, if the Chicago Teachers Union reject the deal Monday, there could be a strike.
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates added that a potential strike “wouldn’t be less than 15 days,” which is how long the 2019 teachers strike stretched on. In the case of a strike, Sharkey noted that the union could face “legal repercussions.”
“If the strike was declared illegal, people could not make up the pay and the board could levy fines against both individual teachers and the union,” Sharkey said.